Smoothie

Smoothie - this fancy drink gets more and more consumers. This thick beverage made from variety of fruit or even vegetables is so popular that recently new places are being created where you can buy just smoothie. You can also buy them in the supermarket.

The idea behing smootkie is really easy. The only process which needs to be done is blending. Fruits might be mixed with vegetables, herbs, water or ice. The new trend is to blend some fuit with basil, the outcome is really interesting in the taste. It is also popular to mix just vegetables. In this case it is called green smoothie.

It all started in 1930s in the USA were it was possible to buy smoothies. It is connected to the invention of the electric blender (Brown, Ellen (2005). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Smoothies. p. 3). The name ‚smoothie’ was used already on that time in the books with recipies and comes from the consistency of the blended fruit: „a thick, colddrink made from fruit and often yogurt or icecream, mixed together until smooth”

It often happends that we buy smoothie because we imagine that it is helathy. Many people would rather buy a smoothie than a cola. „For most of us it is, though, and it is not obvious that any of the sugar scare stories are affecting the fruit juice market yet. In its latest report, the research company Mintel found that 83% of people drink fruit juice, a juice drink or smoothie at least once a week. It also estimates that the market will grow by 13% by 2018. It found 34% of consumers were concerned about the amount of sugar, but "a striking 76%" believed juice and smoothies to be healthy” warnes The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/17/how-fruit-juice-health-food-junk-food). Unfortunatelly the truth is different. Buying smoothie in the shop is the same as we would buy a juice or even a cola. Many companies producing those beverages add in each case sugar. And even if it is a fructose, it is also unhealthy. The Guardian quotes Popkin's words who pays attention to manipulation: „All sugars are equal in their bad effects, says Popkin – even those described on cereal snack bars sold in health food shops as containing "completely natural" sweeteners. "The most important issue about added sugar is that everybody thinks it's cane sugar or maybe beet sugar or HFC syrup or all the other syrups but globally the cheapest thing on the market almost is fruit juice concentrate coming out of China. It has created an overwhelming supply of apple juice concentrate. It is being used everywhere and it also gets around the sugar quotas that lots of countries have” (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/07/smoothies-fruit-juices-new-health-risk). For those who still don’t believe, there is an easy explanation. Try to drink an orange juice or a smoothie, compare it with eating some oranges. Will the beverage make you as full as the fruit?

For those who drink smoothie to stay healthy, the simple advice is - eat fruit instead. And if we drink smoothie because of its consistency and the possibility of mixing different kind of fruit, let’s make it at home - at least, we know what is inside.